The Macedon Ranges is Australia's coolest mainland wine region. Compared the climate of many of Australia’s wine regions, the Macedon Ranges is quite different. It ranges from extremely cold in its windswept south-east and very cold in its north-west.
The region boasts award-winning restaurants; provedores stocked with the best local preserves, farm gates selling the freshest seasonal fruits and vegetables, cheeses and meats.
Cabernet Sauvignon and Blends
Its greatest expression is as a blended wine with either Shiraz or Merlot, but it also thrives in warm years as a single varietal.
Chardonnay
Fine, elegant and potentially long lived wines often fuller flavoured styles with great complexity.
Pinot Noir
This is the regions finest variety. Fine and lighter bodied in style in the cooler vintages, more robust and fuller bodied in warmer years. These wines are rated among the finest of Australian Pinots.
Riesling
Produces some of the State’s best of this variety. Fine, intense, lime juice aroma and flavour that ages wonderfully well.
Shiraz
Due to the regions climate, the wines are genuinely cool climate in style. Striking pepper, spice, liquorice and black cherry aromas are hallmarks of the region. This style has helped add a third dimension to Shiraz in Australia.
- Site selection (altitude, protection from wind and spring frosts, and maximum sun interception from north and north-east facing slopes), the careful matching of site and grape variety, canopy management and relatively low yields are all prerequisites for success.
- Even then success will not come every year - those few extra degrees of heat as well as extra hours of sunshine of the warmer Melbourne summers are needed to get the best results.
- The majority of the soils are relatively skeletal mountain soils, most typically granitic sandy loams which further restrict yields. However, there are patches of deep loams in valleys and on the lower slopes and occasional plains.
- Relatively low yields are in fact a blessing in disguise, for in many years higher yields would not ripen past sparkling wine levels.